Beloved voices gone with loss of Hartman

Published: Monday, June 1, 1998

Monday, June 1, 1998

ACTOR: 'Saturday Night Live' star was famous for his impersonations

By Lonnie Harris

Daily Bruin Contributor

When Phil Hartman died Thursday morning of a gunshot wound in his Encino home, 99 others died right along with him. Hartman had proclaimed himself the "Man of 99 Voices" on the "Tonight Show" several years back, after Jay Leno asked him just how many different impersonations he could do. The voices ranged from Phil Donahue to Ed McMahon to President Clinton.

"As an actor, I felt I couldn't compete," Hartman once said. "I wasn't as cute as the leading man. I wasn't as brilliant as Robin Williams. The one thing I could do was voices and impersonations and weird characters, and there was really no call for that. Except on 'Saturday Night Live.'"

His ability to blend perfectly into an accurate characterization often beleaguered Hartman during his tenure on "SNL," where the phrase "over-the-top" is an understatement. While colleagues including Adam Sandler, Mike Myers and the late Chris Farley were gaining national prominence for their outrageous characters, Hartman sat on the sidelines and perfectly emulated Ronald Reagan or Jack Nicholson. Hartman once complained, jokingly of course, that he was never approached on the street by fans, probably because so few knew what he actually looked like.

"I come from that Jonathan Winters sensibility, where I kind of 'trip' - I just go with it," Hartman told an interviewer in 1995. "It's transcendental, because I'll go into a sketch and come out of it and it's like waking up from a dream. The more I get that feeling, the happier I am."

Accordingly, Hartman was quite happy moving from "Saturday Night Live" to doing other film and television work. He joined an ensemble cast in the then new sitcom "NewsRadio," which just closed its third season. He became the voice of several characters on "The Simpsons," including Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz. He starred in many Hollywood films, including "Jingle All The Way," "House Guest," and this summer's upcoming "Small Soldiers."

But before Hollywood made Hartman a household name, he cut his teeth with the Groundlings, a well-known Los Angeles Comedy Troupe which spawned the careers of other notables, including Pee Wee Herman and Steve Guttenberg.

In a statement released to the press Thursday afternoon, the Groundlings said that Hartman "will be greatly missed, not only by those of us who knew him personally, but also by the millions of people who appreciated his remarkable talent."

The details of Hartman's death are still sketchy, though police believe that Hartman was shot by his wife, who then proceeded to kill herself. No further explanation was provided. Hartman's two children, ages 9 and 6 were found by police at Hartman's Encino home Thursday morning upset but physically unharmed.

The Associated Press

Actor Phil Hartman was found shot to death in his home Thursday.